Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been looking for ways to be more efficient and to make better use of resources since we came to this Assembly. I believe we have overlooked an opportunity right under our noses. We all know that one of the challenges of governing the NWT is the tremendous distances between communities. Every year this government spends thousands of dollars on travel, both for government employees on business and medical travel. The government has taken steps to limit travel wherever possible. However, it is a fact of life in doing business in the north. Travel is always going to be necessary for those with medical needs which cannot be met in their communities.
I believe there is another way to save money on travel, through the use of the frequent flier program. Many of us have experienced the benefits of frequent flier programs. We take a trip and, in the process, gain points towards a free trip. Right now, people travelling on a ticket purchased by the government are able to accumulate frequent flier points for that travel. In other jurisdictions, the government has found ways to accumulate the travel points from employees on duty travel. They can use these points for travel awards which can be used for other government business travel. It is estimated using frequent flier points represents a possible savings of between five and ten percent of the cost of air travel. Mr. Speaker, for every $5 million we spend on medical or duty travel, we could save up to $500,000 by pooling frequent flier points earned from duty and other government travel.
Mr. Speaker, other jurisdictions are finding ways to spread their travel dollars further through the frequent flier point system. This is too easy and obvious for our government, which relies so heavily on air travel, to ignore. I encourage the government to investigate this opportunity and, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister some questions on this later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.